This invention relates to golf clubheads, and, more particularly, to a golf clubhead which includes a soleplate with multiple materials for absorbing and dampening impacts and sound.
Wood-type golf clubheads are increasingly being made from non-wood materials such as metal and composite materials, for example, graphite fibers and resin. Wood-type clubheads are those which are commonly referred to as the driver, 2 wood, 3 wood, etc. even though the clubhead is not formed from wood.
A metal wood-type clubhead is conventionally made by investment casting. The head is usually cast in two parts--a hollow shell or body and a soleplate. The shell or body provides the exterior surfaces of the clubhead except for the bottom or sole, which remains open so that the material which forms the interior of the mold can be removed after the body is cast. The soleplate is positioned within the opening of the shell and is suitably secured to the shell, as by welding, to form a hollow clubhead.
The hollow clubhead may be filled with foamed plastic resin, for example, polyurethane. Liquid foamable resin is poured into the clubhead through the opening for the shaft of the club, and the foamable material expands to fill the hollow interior of the clubhead and solidifies. The principal reason for filling the interior of the head is to dampen the undesirable ringing sound of impact which is produced when a hollow metal wood strikes a golf ball. However, even when metal clubheads are filled with foamed plastic, metal woods, particularly drivers, still tend to produce an undesirable ringing or ping sound upon impact.